Power-transmitting flexible shaft



(No Model.)

J. AK.PRIES'1. POWER TRANSMITTING' FLEXIBLE SHAFT.

No. 501,731. Patented Jul-5718, 1893.

JM WEEE /////f/V//////////////f/ I Il.

UNITED STATES PrvrEN'T OEDEICE.

.IosEPIIIL PRIEST., or NAsIIUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

POWER-TRANSMITTING FLEXIBLE SHAFT.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters `Iatent No. 501,731, dated July18, 1893. Application iiled March 20, 1893. Serial No. 466,905. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH K. PRIEST, a citi zen of the United States,residing atNashua, in the county of Hillsborough and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPower-Transmitting Flexible Shafts; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to a power transmitting shaft having a flexiblecable-like section, or connecting portion intermediate two rigidportions of such shaft, and its object is to produce a powertransmitting shaft having a iiexible cable-like connection free fromsome serious objections to the flexible sections heretofore devised. Oneobjection is thelia bility of the iiexible4 section or connectingportion to break after a short period of use except when making obtuseangles and doing light work; and another objection is that of a strongtendency of the chain of the flexible section or connecting portion tokink on the inside of its outside inclosing coil or casing, whichtendency increases with the in-A creased power required,-and as thiskinking produces great friction between the chain and outer case, it isvery important to avoid the same. tendency to'kink is greater than inothersand where there is the least tendency to kink the utility is thegreatest.

My invention consists in a novel construction of the flexible sectionand of the rigid portions of the shaft to which it is applied, wherebykinking of the chain is prevented, and other benefits secured, as willbe fully seen from the following specification, claims and accompanyingdrawings, in which" latter Figure l is aside elevation of Inyimprovedpower transmitting shaft with flexible Vsection or connecting portion asit appears when straight. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same,in part, as it appears when it is bent into a curved form.. Fig. 3 is asection of one of the ends of the shaft to which the chain of theflexible section is connected, this end portion being shown in elevationin Fig. 1 but removed in Fig. Fig. 4 is a perspective .of the plates a.

In some known constructions thisA view of one of the links of theimproved chain,

and Fig. 5 is aperspective view of one of the end hooking links and twoof the links of the vplates a receiving between their perforated endsthe perforated ends'of the plates a. The perforated ends of the plates aare constructed at right angles to one another, and

the pivots or rivets are passed vertically through the eyes of the',plates of .one link and horizontally through the eyes of the plates ofanother link, and so on throughout the chain, and therefore the plates aofene link areso arranged with respect to those of another link thattheyalternately lie horiz/ ,tally and vertically, and thus are adaptedrespectively for receiving the perforated ends to kink, and at the sametime the friction does not increase with an addition of power. Thisimproved chain is applied within a Vflexible hollow coil D, which issecured at one of its ends by a set screw c in an extension b of a rigidtubular wedging sleeve E, said sleeve lbeing wedged upon a tubular rigidportion F of the shaft in which a rigid, revolving, screw threadedspindle (if is fitted. rIhe other end of the coil is also secured by aset screw din another tubular sleeve H, which sleeve is adjustable,being confined by aset screw f upon a tubular adjustable portion F ofthe shaft, in which arevolving rigid spindle I is fitted. The spindle Gis formed with collars g which keep it from moving longitudinally in thetubular portion F, and the sleeve spindle Iis provided with a collar gandvalso with an adjustable stop collar g2, the latter being secured onthe spindle by a set screw h. The spindles are formed at one of theirends with bifurcated portions through which hooking pins m m are passed;and upon these pins the hooks C C at the ends of the chain are hooked asshown.

It is plain from the foregoing description, that the spindles and thechain are kept in The hooks C C are formed IOO proper lineI relatively,and that the chain and spindles have every freedom to ymake.theirnecessary movements with the rigid and exible portions of theshaft, and thatthe chain links are free to turn on their pivots orrivets either Verticallyor horizontally, and in doing so there is notendency to kink or bind with undue friction. y l

What I claim as my invention is- 1. A power transmitting shaft of thetype described, having a flexible cable-like intermediate connectingportion between itsrigid portions, said connecting` portion comprisingbetween its hooking ends, two series of links constructed respectivelyof pairs of ilat hinging plates arranged alternately iur-horizontal.and' vertical planes, and .otherl pairs of;hing ing plates each plate ofa pair of the latter,

being formed with both a horizontal andra,

vots whichpass through the. plates thejoints y.

set alternately in horizontal and vertical planes, and other pairs ofplates a a', each :plate of a pair-of thelatter being formed with both ahorizontal and vertical hinging end, and the several pairs of platesbeing united by-pivots. running alternately at y right anglestooneanother, of4 hooks C, C', wire inclosing coil'D, tubular rigidpartsF, H confining screws d andf, and spindles G and I, substantially asdescribed.`

In testimony whereofnI hereunto affix-my signatureV .in .presence .ofrtwo, witnesses?- JOSEPHy Ki.; PRIEST'.-

\ Witnesses:

